Presented by :

Nishat Anjum Bini (NIB)

Adjunct Faculty
Department of History and Philosophy
North South University
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Table of Contents
*Egypt, regarded as the Gift of the Nile
*Etymology
*Dynastic Rule in Ancient Egypt :The land of the Pharaohs
*Religion
*Intellectual Achievements: Writing , Science, Art and
Architecture
*Society and Economy

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“Thou makest a Nile in the Underworld,
Thou bringest forth as thou desirest
To maintain the people (of Egypt)
According as thou madest them for
thyself,
The lord of all of them, wearying
(himself) with them,
The lord of every land, rising for them,
The Aton of the day, great of majesty.”

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Factors for the growth of the civilization
Role of River Nile: Egypt’s Lifeline
• The civilization of ancient Egypt developed in the arid climate of northern Africa by
3100 B.C. This region is distinguished by the Arabian and Libyan deserts, and
the River Nile. The Nile is the longest river in the world, flowing northward from Lake
Victoria and eventually emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.

• The Greek Historian and traveller Herodotus in the fifth century B.C called
Egypt the “Gift of the Nile River.”

• In the minds of the Egyptians the Nile was the supreme fertilizer and renewer of the
land. Each September, the Nile floods its valley. By the end of November, the water
retreats , leaving behind a thin covering of fertile mud ready to be planted with
crops. The annual flood made the growing of abundant crops almost effortless. The
river's predictability and fertile soil allowed the Egyptians to build an empire on the
basis of great agricultural wealth. It also promoted easy communication throughout
the valley.

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Factors for the growth of the civilization
Role of River Nile: Egypt’s Lifeline

• To the west of Nile valley, Sahara was the home of several Neolithic cultures.
During the African humid period, this was the area with rich vegetation, and the
human population in the Sahara had increased considerably by about 8000 BC.
They lived by hunting and fishing in the local lakes, and by gathering wild cereals of
the Sahara. The African humid period was gradually coming to an end, and by
about 5,000 BC it was over.

• After that individual bands of settlers moved into the Nile valley and they
created stable agricultural communities. By about 3100 B.C there were some
forty of these communities, which were in constant contact with one another.
This contact, encouraged and facilitated by the Nile, virtually assured the
early political unification of the country.

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Source of the Map: https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/north-africa-map.htm 6
 At its greatest extent, Ancient
Egypt occupied the land in all
directions from the Syrian
coast in the north, to the Red
Sea in the east, down the Nile
Valley to Nubia in the south,
and spreading west inland
into the Libyan Desert.

Source of Map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt#/media/File:Ancient_Egypt_map-en.svg 7

,

Etymology
• The ancient Egyptian name of the country was ‘’Kemet’’ which means black land, likely
referring to the fertile black soils of the Nile flood plains

• The English name "Egypt" is derived from the Ancient Greek "Aígyptos“.The Greek form was
borrowed from Egyptian word Hikuptah meaning “ home of the ka (soul) of God Ptah“.

• ‘Misr’ ( meaning : the country) is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern official name of
Egypt.

• In ancient Egyptian history, dynasties are series of rulers sharing a common origin. They are
usually, but not always, traditionally divided into about 32 pharaonic dynasties; these dynasties
are commonly grouped by modern scholars into "kingdoms" and "intermediate periods".

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Pre Dynastic Egypt

OR NOMES

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 Timeline of Ancient Egypt
Pre Dynastic Era 8000-5000 B.C Egypt was a grassland. Nomads roamed in search of food

King Menes (also Known as Narmer) united Upper and Lower

Egypt and established capital at Memphis. He is regarded to be the
Early Dynastic Era 3100-2600 B.C First Pharaoh

Beginning of the construction of Pyramids; Introduction of

Old Kingdom 2660-2180 B.C Mummification Process

First Intermediate 2180-2080 BC Political Chaos

Recovery and Political Stability ; Trade becomes the center of the

Middle Kingdom 2080 -1640 BC economy

Second Intermediate 1640- 1570 Hyksos Invasion

Large Scale Military and Trade Expeditions ; Reign of Pharaoh

New Kingdom 1570-1075 B.C Akhenaten and Queen Hatshepsut

Third Intermediate 1070-664 BC Decentralization

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 Timeline of Ancient Egypt
Persian/
Achaemenid In 525 BC, the Persian Empire, led by King Cambyses II, invaded Egypt.
Conquest of Egypt then became a "satrapy" (like a province) of the Persian Empire.
Egypt 525 BC
Alexander the Great conquered Persian-controlled Egypt in 332 BC
Greek during his campaigns against the Achaemenid Empire. He founded city of
Conquest of Alexandria. Ptolemy, a Macedonian who was one of Alexander's most
Egypt 332 BC trusted generals and confidants, won control of Egypt from his
rivals and declared himself pharaoh
Roman
Rome's rule over Egypt officially began with the arrival of Octavian
Conquest of (later called Caesar Augustus) in 30 B.C., following his defeat of
Egypt 30 BC - Marc Antony and Cleopatra in the battle at Actium. Queen Cleopatra
640 A.D is regarded to be the last Pharaoh of Egypt.

The Muslim conquest of Egypt, led by the army of 'Amr ibn al-'As,
Muslim
,
took place between 639 and 646 AD and was overseen by the
Conquest of Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long period of
Egypt Roman reign over Egypt that began in 30 BC.
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Egyptian intellectual
achievements

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Mathematics
• Many branches of science absorbed the attention of the Egyptians, such
as astronomy, medicine and mathematics. All were developed for
practical ends-astronomy to primarily compute the time of Nile floods,
mathematics for building purpose, and medicine for healing.
• The Egyptians laid the foundation for arithmetic and geometry.
• They devised the arithmetical operations of addition, subtraction, and
division.
• They could compute with accuracy the areas of triangle, rectangles, and
hexagons.
• They calculated the value of Pi (π) (that is the ratio of the circumference
of a circle to its diameter) to be 3.16, thereby coming very close to the
modern calculation of 3.14

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Medicine

• The ancient Egyptians practiced medicine with highly professional

methods.
• They had advanced knowledge of anatomy and surgery. Also, they
treated a lot of diseases including dental, gynecological,
gastrointestinal, and urinary disorders.
• They recognized the importance of heart as a vital organ.
• They even compiled the first Materia medica, or catalogue of
medicines.

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Egyptian medical papyri
• Egyptian medical papyri are ancient
Egyptian texts written on papyrus which permit
a glimpse at medical procedures and practices
in ancient Egypt. These papyri give details on
disease, diagnosis, and remedies of disease,
which include herbal remedies, surgery, and
magical incantations.

• Example of medical remedies mentioned in the

Ebers Papyrus
Diabetes : "Drink a mixture including elderberry,
asit plant fibres, milk, cucumber flowers, and
green dates” The Ebers Papyrus (c. 1550
BCE) from Ancient Egypt

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List of Egyptian Medical Papyri
Papyrus Name Contents Place of preserving

The text deals with women's health— Petrie Museum of Egyptian

Kahun Archaeology, London
gynecological diseases, fertility, pregnancy,
Papyrus contraception, etc.

The text deals with eye diseases, Ashmolean Museum,

Ramesseum Oxford, England
pediatrics, muscles etc.
Papyri
The text has chapters on gynecological Library of University of
Ebers Leipzig, Germany
matters, intestinal disease and parasites,
Papyrus eye and skin problems, dentistry and the
surgical treatment of abscesses and tumors,
bone-setting and burns.
It speaks about remedies to drive out Brooklyn Museum in New
Brooklyn York
poison from snakes, scorpions and
Papyrus tarantulas.
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 Writing System
• Egyptians developed their first form
of writing from around 3100 B.C.
• The writing system is known as the
hieroglyphs( meaning: sacred signs).
• At first the hieroglyphs represented
only objects, but later they came to
stand for ideas and sounds.
• Early in the Old Kingdom, the
Egyptians began to use alphabetic
characters for twenty four consonant
sounds.

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Use of Papyrus
• The ancient Egyptians used the
stem of the papyrus plant to make
sails, cloth, mats, cords, and,
above all, paper. Paper made from
papyrus was the chief writing
material in ancient Egypt. The
process was adopted by the
Greeks, and was used extensively
in the Roman Empire.
• The papyrus plant was
long cultivated in the Nile delta region
in Egypt and was collected for its stalk
or stem, whose central pith was cut into
thin strips, pressed together, and dried
to form a smooth thin writing surface.
• The word "paper" is etymologically
derived from papyrus, Ancient Greek name
for the Cyperus papyrus plant.
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A section of the Egyptian Book of the
Dead written on papyrus

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 The grandeur of
Egyptian architecture
& Sculpture

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Pyramids
• The characteristic examples of Old Kingdom
architecture were the pyramids, the first of
which was built as early as 2770 B.C. The first The Step
pyramid was constructed during the time of
Pharaoh Zoser. Pyramid of
• Imhotep was an Egyptian chancellor to the Zoser at
Pharaoh Zoser, possible architect of Zoser's step
pyramid, and high priest of the sun Saqqara.
god Ra at Heliopolis.
• Pyramids may have been intended for the
economic purpose of providing employment
opportunities.
• Pyramids were also unquestionably meant to be
the tombs of the divine pharaohs: the mightier
the pharaoh, the larger his resting place was
supposed to be. And since the pharaoh stood for
the state, the pyramids certainly were also
political statements.
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The Great Pyramid of Giza: A Marvel of
Ancient Egyptian Engineering

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The Great Pyramid of Giza: A Marvel of Ancient
Egyptian Engineering
• It is estimated that 1,00,000 workers were employed for twenty years to complete the single
Pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu at Giza. Its height was 481 feet and more than a two million limestone
blocks were used to build the pyramid. Each of the blocks weighs between 2.5 and 15 tons. The
blocks were dragged by workers without the aid of wheeled vehicles up earthen ramps and fitted
into place. The pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Great Sphinx

of Giza in front of
the pyramid

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The Great
Pyramid of Khufu
The Pyramid of The Giza pyramid
Khafre The Pyramid complex in Egypt is
of Menkaure home to the Great
Pyramid of Khufu,
the Pyramid of Khafre,
and the Pyramid of
Menkaure, along with
their associated
pyramid complexes and
the Great Sphinx. All
were built during
the Fourth Dynasty of
the Old
Kingdom of ancient
Egypt, between 2600
and 2500 BC.

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Temples
• Later when concern for personal salvation became predominant, the temple displaced the
pyramid as the leading architectural form in Egypt. The most noted examples were the great
temples at Karnak and Luxor, build during the period of the New Kingdom. Egyptians temples
were much larger in size than the Gothic European cathedrals.

Temple of Amun-Ra at
Karnak, Luxor, Egypt

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Egyptian Sculpture
• Statues of Pharaohs were
commonly of colossal size.
Statues ranged in height from
about 75 to 90 feet.
• The colossal size of the statues
of Pharaohs was intended to
symbolize their power and the
power of the state they
represented.
• The sculptures mostly had
impassive, rigid and emotionless
expression. The rigidity and
impassiveness were meant to
express the timelessness and
stability of the national life.
Temple of Abu Simbel built during the time of
Pharaoh Ramesses II in 13th century B.C.
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Religion in Ancient
Egypt

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Importance of religion in Egypt
• The religion of the Ancient Egyptians was polytheistic in
nature. They believed in many gods. Most of their gods
were part human, part animal in form.
• Religion played a dominant role in the life of the ancient
Egyptians leaving its impression upon everything.
• The art was an expression of religious symbolism
• The religion and philosophy were fused with religious
teachings.
• The Pharaohs used to profess rule in the name of the Gods. The Eye of Horus is a
• Material resources in huge amount were expended in concept and symbol
providing elaborate tombs, temples and in supporting in ancient Egyptian
priests. religion that
represented well-
being, healing, and
protection.
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ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DEITIES

( Also Known
As Amun-Ra)

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Mummification
• Egyptians strongly believed in
the afterlife. For this reason
elaborate preparations had to
be made to prevent the
extinction of one’s earthly Mummy of Pharaoh Ramesses II,
remains. Not only were bodies now in the National Museum of
mummified but wealthy men Egyptian Civilization
left endowments to provide
their mummies with food and
other essentials.
• The dead were believed to
appear before the god Osiris to
be judged according to their
deeds on earth.

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PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATION

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Pharaoh Akhenaton’s’ Monotheistic
Religious Policy
• After the Hyksos Invasion, religion in Egypt underwent a serious debasement. Its
ethical significance was destroyed and superstition and magic gained ascendancy.
The result was a marked increase in the power of the priests.
• This degradation of the religion at the hands of the priests finally resulted in a great
upheaval. The leader of this movement was the Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, who began
his reign by about 1375 BC.
• He drove the priests from the temple, hacked the names of the traditional deities
from the public monuments, and initiated the worship of only one new god,
whom he called Aton , an ancient designation for the physical sun.
• He changed his own name from Amenhotep ( Amon rests) to Akhenaton ( Aton is
satisfied). Known as one of Egypt's most beautiful rulers, Queen Nefertiti, wife to
Pharaoh Akhenaten was a key part of his cult of Aton, which worshipped the sun
as a divine being and shunned all other gods. 32
Nefertiti bust in Neues Museum, Statue of Akhenaten at the Egyptian
Berlin. Museum, Cairo
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Top left: This limestone relief of a royal couple in the
Amarna style has been attributed as Akhenaten
and Nefertiti

Top right: The desecrated royal coffin found in Tomb

KV55 (King’s Valley)

Bottom right: Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their children

in light of Aton

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Pharaoh Akhenaton’s’
Monotheistic Religious Policy
• New set of doctrines was enunciated by the reforming Pharaoh.
• Akhenaton taught first of all a religion of qualified monotheism.
• According to him, God Aton had no human or animal shape but was to be
conceived in terms of the lifegiving ,warm rays of the sun; he was the
creator of the whole universe.
• Pharaoh Akhenaton restored the ethical quality of Egyptian religion by
insisting that Aton was the author of the moral order of the world and
the rewarder of mankind for integrity and purity of heart.
• But Akhenaton’s religious revolution was still a failure. His religion gained
very little popularity because the public still remained devoted to their old
gods. The new religion was strange for them and lacked the greatest
attraction of the older faith, the promise of an afterlife.

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Pharaoh Tutankhamen: Restoration
of the Old Religious Order
• Akhenaton’s successor was Pharaoh Tutankhamen(1332 – 1323 BC.) He ascended to the throne
around the age of nine and reigned until his death around the age of nineteen. His queen
consort was Ankhesenamun.
• Historically, Tutankhamun is primarily known for restoring the traditional polytheistic ancient
Egyptian religion. Tutankhamen's own burial was a lavish demonstration of commitment to the
old rituals and belief in life after death..
• He is also known for his vastly opulent wealth found during the 1922 discovery of his
tomb, KV62, the only such tomb to date to have been found in near-intact condition. The
discovery of his tomb is widely considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all
time.
• In 1922, a team led by British Egyptologist Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings
excavated Tutankhamen's tomb, in an effort that was funded by British aristocrat George
Herbert. The discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb received worldwide press coverage; with over
5,000 artifacts, it gave rise to renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamen's
mask, now preserved at the Egyptian Museum, remains a popular symbol.
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 Lord George Herbert
,his daughter Lady
Evelyn
Herbert and Howard
Carter at the top of
the steps leading to
the newly discovered
tomb of Tutankhamen,
November 1922
British Egyptologist
Howard Carter examining
the innermost coffin of
Tutankhamen in 1922

Howard Carter’s team with artifacts

from KV62

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The central portion of
the Valley of the
Kings, with tomb
entrances labeled.
The covered entrance
to KV62 is at center
right.

The mummy of
Tutankhamen as
photographed in 1926

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 Plan of
Tutankhamen’s
tomb

The burial
chamber of KV62

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 Royal
Mask of Tutankhamen Throne

Artifacts from Tutankhamen’s Tomb

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The inner coffin,
from the burial
chamber

The middle coffin, from the

burial chamber The canopic shrine from the
treasury

Artifacts from Tutankhamen’s Tomb

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 Figurines of A scarab
deities pendant

A box from the

treasury

Artifacts from Tutankhamen’s Tomb

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Social and economic
life in ancient Egypt

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The gulf between the rich and
poor
• The gulf that separated the standard of living of the upper and lower
classes of Egypt was very much wider.
• The wealthy nobles lived in splendid villas that opened onto fragrant
gardens. They used to eat varieties of meat, poultry, cakes, fruits,
wine and sweets. They ate and drank from vessels and goblets of gold
and silver.
• The nobles used to adorn themselves with expensive fabrics and
jewellery .
• In contrast, the life of the poor was wretched. The labourers in the
towns inhabited congested quarters made of mud-brick. They could
barely afford fish and meat, eating mostly bread and onions.
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Egyptian Women
Statue of
• Egyptian women were not entirely Pharaoh
subordinated to men. Hatshepsut
• Women could own and inherit property
and engage in business.
• Upper class girls were often taught to
read and write and about subjects such
as history and politics
• Commoner girls were taught
homemaking skills and how to manage
a household
• Women were allowed to succeed to
the throne. Examples: Queen
Sobeknofru, Queen Hatshepsut.

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Agriculture, Trade and Industry
• The Egyptian economic system rested primarily
upon an agrarian basis.
Millet
• Soil yielded excellent crops of wheat, barley,
millet, vegetables, fruits, flax and cotton
• A flourishing trade was carried on with the
island of Crete, Palestine and Syria.
• Chief export items were: gold, wheat, linen Flax Seed
fabrics
• Chief import items were: silver, ivory and
lumber
• Gold mines in Libya controlled by Egypt were
an important source of wealth.
• The leading industries were quarrying,
shipbuilding, and the manufacture of pottery,
glass and textiles.
• Rings of copper and gold of definite weight
circulated as media of exchange. This Linen Ivory
Egyptian ring money(deben) is one of the
oldest currencies in history. 47
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Political, military and economic factors
behind the downfall of Egyptian Empire
❑Pharaoh Ramses III(1186–1155 BC) was murdered, leaving a power vacuum that
eventually led to a long civil war.
❑ Military conflicts towards the end of the ancient Egyptian era were incredibly
expensive. Funding massive military investments strained the government's capital
and further weakened the state.
❑Severe climatic shifts decimated crops and hundreds of thousands died in the
famines that resulted from these changes. There was also outbreak of epidemics
such as small pox.
❑A civil war coupled with invasions by the Assyrians weakened the Egyptian military
allowing the Persian empire to successfully invade and take over Egypt.
❑Economic disparity led to unrest among the population, leading to dissatisfaction
with both politics and religion.
❑Adoption of Christianity and the Greek alphabet led to the loss of key cultural
features such as notable religious traditions and use of hieroglyphics.
❑The ancient Egyptian empire lasted for approximately 3000 years before finally falling
from power.

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Further Readings:
❑Burns, E.M. & others(1986), World Civilizations, W.W. Norton
& Company: New York,Pg 27-50
❑Wallbank,T. Walter, Bailkey,Nels M., Taylor, Alastair M.(1985),
Civilization: Past and Present, Scott Foresman/Addison-
Wesley: New York

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